How Schools Can Get Children to Eat Their Vegetables

Feb 26, 2017

The Wall Street Journal – Bonnie Miller Rubin

“We try haranguing. We try pleading. We try bribing. But we still can’t get children to eat their vegetables. Now schools, nutritionists and behavioral scientists are putting science to work to figure out how to get children to reach for a carrot instead of a candy bar. And they’re seeing gains from strategies such as changing the placement of vegetables on the food line, giving vegetable dishes names that sound more appealing and hiring chefs to redesign cafeteria meals. There’s urgency behind these efforts. The nation’s childhood-obesity rates have tripled since the 1970s, and legislators are clashing over the effectiveness of recent federal rules mandating healthier fare in schools. While it seems the regulations are getting more children to make better choices, there hasn’t been a measurable health impact just yet.”(more)